The principles align with the AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management – Principles and Guidelines, allowing COI risks to be identified, analysed, evaluated and managed in a uniform and structured approach. The principles will not replace existing legislative requirements, but aim to build upon them to strengthen the management of COI.
Principles for managing conflicts of interest
Conflicts of interest are common - considering conflicts of interest must be a normal part of doing business.
Conflicts arise in the context of:
- the different operations of the government, including, but not limited to, national security and emergency activities
- the people or entities we engage with;
- the information we have access to;
- the decisions we make or can influence; and
- how we undertake our duty or an activity
Be aware that certain activities will have a higher exposure to conflicts of interest than others.
Material personal or business interests must be disclosed to allow conflicts of interest to be identified.
Be aware of what personal interests or duties could be relevant to the role or activity (material personal interests) – consider their impact or potential impact.
Material interests may be identified through declaration or due diligence checks.
Material interests must be assessed to identify if they are in conflict with interests of the Commonwealth Government and the professional obligations of public officials – consider real (actual), apparent (apparent) and potential conflicts. The principle of ‘If in doubt, declare’ should always apply to officials and those engaged by officials.
Conflicts and mitigation strategies should be disclosed and made available to relevant stakeholders. It is essential to ensure that privacy principles are adhered to and that personal information is managed in accordance with privacy laws.
Be aware that some types of conflicts of interest are required to be avoided by law, government policy or professional duty.
Assessing conflicts of interests involves assessing and managing risks against risk tolerance parameters in the context of the activity.
It may not be possible or appropriate to avoid or eliminate the conflict, e.g. it may be appropriate to engage an individual or entity with the most experience or expertise in a field, but such an individual/entity may have connections which could, if left unmanaged, give rise to bias, improper influence or unintended benefit or detriment.
Ensure any potential impacts from the conflict are evaluated against what your entity considers is an acceptable level of risk for the specific situation.
Be sure to specify how the conflicts of interest will be actively managed within risk tolerance parameters, applying proportionate management strategies.
If the improper influence or unintended benefit/detriment arising from the conflict cannot be managed, then the conflict must be avoided.
Managing conflicts of interest is an ongoing activity.
Conflicts must not be self-managed by those who they relate to. Ensure there is a delegate of sufficient seniority and experience to make an independent decision on the assessment of the mitigations to manage conflicts.
Managing conflicts of interest is an ongoing activity as new conflicts could arise, and existing ones could evolve over time or cease.
Mitigation strategies may not operate as originally envisioned and conflicts may change during the course of an activity, so mitigation strategies must also be regularly monitored and assessed to ensure they remain relevant and effective
Strategies to mitigate conflict of interest should be documented and endorsed by relevant decision makers.
These strategies need to be embedded into the day-to-day operations of an activity to ensure the conflict/s of interest are actively managed.
